Reply to Is it harder now a days to get into college w/ all the AP,IB, High GPA and over supply of applicants

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[quote=Anonymous]Yes, to most of your questions (not sure I understand all of them).

It depends on how you're defining "decent." Let's assume you mean a SLAC, a 2nd-tier SLAC, or a good public university.

It's true that the standards for most colleges have risen since our day. All colleges are very clear that they prefer the kids who have challenged themselves, and done well, in the toughest classes available in their high schools. Given that most high schools today offer APs or IB, this means your kid should be taking AP or IB or magnet if s/he wants to get into what I presume you mean is a SLAC. (It's true that back when I graduated in 1983, my high school didn't offer a single AP and honors classes were the ticket. But this has definitely changed.)

As a result, most of the kids applying to highly selective colleges (Ivies, SLACs, MIT, Stanford, you get the picture) have checked off the boxes of SATs>=2200 and unweighted GPA>=3.9 in the toughest classes available at their high schools.  A few apply anyway, but usually they understand they have little chance.

The result? Lots of spillover of highly-qualified kids to 2nd-tier SLACS and the best publics, which are often now "safeties" or even "matches" for the kids with GPAs of 3.9 (I actually know some of these kids). Also, the kids who do get into the highly selective schools need something additional (national-level achiechievement, a great story, athletic recruitment) besides checking the SATs and GPA boxes. This is something the poster who keeps starting threads about anti-Asian discrimination keeps failing to understand:  working hard for a 3.9 unfortunately buys you a cup of coffee these days, when your application is in a pile with 10,000 other 3.9s and the admissions folks are looking desperately for ways to whittle down the pile with kids who stand out in additional ways.

Now you could choose to step away from this rat race, and that might be a very reasonable choice depending on your kid and family circumstances. But that's a different discussion[/quote]

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